BOATING

BOATING; From Great Lakes to the Hudson River: An Iditarod on Water for Paddlers

By BARBARA LLOYD

Published: June 27, 1993

It's hard to say what might be the most difficult part of a new long-distance race that begins today in Chicago for kayakers and canoeists. Would paddling through parts of the Great Lakes be tougher than 11 tedious days in the Erie Canal? At the end of the next five weeks, competitors who cross the finish line in New York City ought to know.

The 1,000-mile race, the Finlandia Clean Water Challenge, has attracted 20 serious paddlers, 18 of whom plan to go the full course. Designed to be the longest canoe and kayak race in the world, the event is being touted as the Iditarod of paddling. As with the Iditarod, the grueling sled-dog competition in Alaska, weather will surely play a large part.

"It's about racing and endurance," said Jeff Yeager, executive director of the American Canoe Association in Springfield, Va. "It has an expedition feel to it."

The 113-year-old canoe association, the national governing body for the sport, is organizing the event in a joint venture with Finlandia vodka. The Finnish firm has donated $50,000 toward a $1 million fund-raising effort to improve waterways in the United States. Small Boats

The race, which ends Aug. 2 in New York, crosses seven states and moves briefly into Canada at Toronto. Competitors will be paddling on eight rivers, including the Erie Canal and the Hudson River, and portions of four of the Great Lakes.

Most of the boats, which range from 17 to 21 feet, are small enough to put on the roof of a car. There are two divisions: for single and tandem paddlers.

The fleet will travel prearranged distances each day, about 18 to 45 statute miles, and then stay overnight. Local paddlers are being encouraged to join adjunct races at various stopovers.

The competitors vary in age from 21 to 70, and include explorers and Olympic medalists. Verlen Kruger, who will turn 71 on the third day of the race, is the oldest. His wife, Becky, who will paddle with him in the tandem division, is 25 years old. Never Too Old

Kruger is one of the more experienced canoeists in the fleet. A retired plumber from Lansing, Mich., Kruger picked up his first paddle at age 41, but since then, he has covered more than 85,000 miles by canoe, an accomplishment noted in the Guinness World Book of Records.

"The true explorer never ceases to have something to explore," Kruger said in a telephone interview last week. "It isn't over until you say it's over. But that's not the major factor. Spirit has no age; the body maybe does. But there's no limit to where you go at any age."

Kruger proved his point in 1983, when he was 61 years old. He and an associate, Steve Landick, of Marquette, Mich., completed a 28,000-mile paddling expedition that crisscrossed North America from Baja, Calif., to the Arctic Ocean. Landick, who is 40, also plans to race in the Finlandia Challenge.

Greg Barton, of Seattle, an Olympic-class flat-water sprinter in kayak, has only enough time to compete in part of the competition, a 10-mile sprint for local paddlers today in the Chicago River.

"Generally, kayaks are faster than canoes," the 33-year-old Barton said recently. "But the longer the race gets, the closer they become. The kayak is faster and more efficient, but it can also be a little more tiring." Awaits the Hudson

Barton, who won four Olympic medals in flat-water kayak events, including two golds, says that endurance athletes, rather than sprinters like himself, are likely to perform better over the long run.

Two other Olympians, Joe Jacobi, 23, of Bethesda, Md., and Mike Harbold of Washington, will also race. Because of scheduling conflicts, Jacobi, an Olympic gold medalist, will join the race July 17 in Tonawanda, N.Y., for the last half of the competition. The endurance aspects of the race intrigue him.

"The only way you can compete in a race like this is to work at a lower heart rate and cruise along," he said.

Although Jacobi won't be eligible for a prize because he will enter midway through the event, the competitor in him looks forward to the segment where the fleet moves out of the placid Erie Canal and into the Hudson River with its tidal flow.

"I figure that's where I'm going to excel," he said, noting that his 19-foot kayak rides the tops of rolling seas. Designed by Barton, the Black Marlin design is a surf ski kayak -- long, narrow and shallow inside.